Fiery Heart, Broken Soul
by iheartgod175
Summary: The newcomer for Brawl is a hot blooded, boisterous creature that's not afraid to punch you in the face. But, that's just an act for underneath it is a shattered soul that struggling to not go over the edge. Can this tournament put Scarlet back together, or will her inner demons consume what little bit of sanity she has left?
1. Chapter 1: An Extra Addition

**A/N: **Before I start, I must thank my Father in heaven, for giving me the opportunity to work with people on this website, and for giving me the idea for this story. Without His help, I would have never finished this. I give you the thanks and the glory, right now, in Your Son's precious name. Amen.

Hello, folks. It is iheartgod175, and I have come with something new: a chaptered story for Super Smash. Not just that: an M-rated chaptered story!

First off, I must say I was surprised by the response I got from my first one-shot "Acceptance". I didn't expect five reviews mere hours after it was posted, or fourteen favorites after one week, or for a member to ask me to write a story for them. Either way, I feel humbled and it gives me a heartwarming feeling when people praise my writing, even when I think that my writing needs more spicing up.

Anyway, I was asked by Vulaan Kulaas to write a story, and he/she graciously gave me their OC. It took a lot of rewriting and at least two sheets of paper, but here it is. This story may possibly be my longest story ever, since I'm going to go into loads and loads of detail about the characters. I'll try to shoot for thirty, but a hundred chapters may also be in the works. Also, this story is rated M for a pretty good reason. So, here we go!

Enjoy the story, Vulaan Kulaas, and everyone else!

* * *

_Dedede's Castle_

_March 8th, 2008, Early Spring_

_One day before the launch of Super Smash Brothers Brawl..._

"Do you really think that this tournament will help her recouperate, Dedede?"

The king of Dreamland looked down at the masked blue knight who stood next to him. The two were watching a small mock battle on the castle grounds. A scarlet feathered penguin who was slightly shorter than Dedede himself was fighting against several Waddle Dees in armed combat. She was also much skinnier than him, and wore a sapphire blue coat that was similar to his own, but lined with less fur and fit her body more. Her feathers were rougher than Dedede's own, and thicker as well, giving her a slightly rebellious appearance. Orange scars trailed across her face and a small scar ran along the left side of her beak. Her grey eyes were darker than thunderclouds as she glared at her smaller opponents. The purple bandana that was on her head threatened to slide off her head as she unleashed her more powerful moves on a couple of Waddle Dees, which were sent flying through the air like rag dolls each time she hit them.

Dedede sighed. "I have to hope it will. I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't help her," he answered.

"I suppose you really are a soft-hearted one under all that arrogance, Dedede," Meta Knight replied.

Dedede shot a glare at him. "Shut up," he said.

At the sound of a battle cry, the two turned to see a Waddle Dee rush towards Scarlet, a ninja star in his right hand. Even from their position on the balcony, they could see her cocky grin as she prepared to unleash her attack. Her body seemed to burst into flames almost instantaneously, and this caused the Waddle Dee to stop short, looking utterly surprised.

That surprise turned into fear as she shot off and slammed right into him, setting him on fire. The Waddle Dee let out a high pitched shriek as he flew into the air, a tail of fire marking his location. He disappeared into the forest, and a loud sonic boom hit Dedede's and Meta Knight's ears a few seconds later.

Brandishing her hammer, Scarlet looked at the other Waddle Dees and Gordos who had surrounded her. "Anybody else up for a match?" she asked.

The Waddle Dees and Gordos looked at her, then at each other, and then looked at her again. Without a word, they all turned around and ran as though Nightmare were on their heels, their shrieks echoing through the castlegrounds.

Scarlet jumped up and down, cheering. "Yes! I finally perfected the Flare Dash! Those Smashers had better watch out, because I'm really getting fired up!"

While they were watching her cheer, Meta Knight turned to Dedede. "Shouldn't you be training for the preliminary rounds? They start two days from now," he said.

Dedede scoffed. "Of course not. I'm what they call a heavyweight, and as such I'll be able to handle all the lighter Smashers. They'll be flying off the stage in no time," he said. "What about you?"

"I have practiced from dawn until dusk since I got the announcement. However, I decided to take a break for today, and to make sure that both you and Scarlet are preparing for the rounds."

"You, taking a break from training? Consider me shocked," Dedede replied, though his tone was only in jest.

Meta Knight, though, was taking it seriously. "You should tell her to rest, Dedede. After all, we don't need her to overdo it, and possibly go Soul Form on everyone during the match," he answered.

"Hopefully, she won't have to use her Soul Form during the tournament. The letter states that the first few matches of the Super Smash Brothers tournament are supposed to show the judge, Master Hand, what the contestant's abilities are," Dedede answered. "I've already warned her not to show that off in front of everyone."

"Good. I just don't want another incident with that Soul Form of hers," Meta Knight said, glaring at the ground as painful memories came to mind.

_"__You killed him, the one person who helped me escape! Die, you son of a-"_

_"__Scarlet, stop! Think of what you're doing!"_

_"__Oh, she won't be able to do that, Meta Knight. Thanks to my experiments, she is beginning to evolve into her _true _self!"_

_"__If you've done something to my sister, I'll-"_

_"__RRRRRAAAAAARRGGHH!"_

_"__Oh, crap! She's going out of control!"_

_"__Scarlet, don't! SCARLET!"_

"Trust me, nothing is going to go wrong. You're always worrying," Dedede said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Meta Knight cringed. "I hate it when people say that," he muttered.

"Hey!" The two looked down to see Scarlet call out to them. "You guys wanna have a mock battle? I've still got enough energy to fight!"

Dedede shrugged, lifting his large hammer onto his shoulder. "I guess I'm up for a fight. Just don't cry when you lose," he said.

"As if I would lose," she retorted. "Meta Knight, are you coming?"

The caped knight sighed. "I was planning on spending my sparring session with a couple of the swordsmen from the castlegrounds…"

"Meta Knight, you're going to be fighting against a lot of swordsmen in this Super Smash Brothers tournament. I looked at the picture and counted at least five of them," Scarlet said. "Besides, you still need to work on your Galaxia Darkness technique, right?"

Meta Knight knew he couldn't argue with that. "Alright, I'll fight on one condition."

"And what's that?" she asked.

"…Please lower your power output. The last time you fought me on full power, you broke my mask," he said.

"And what's wrong with people seeing your face? You look adorable, just like Kirby!" Scarlet replied.

Meta Knight was grateful for the fact that he had a mask on, because the heat in his face was spreading. "Scarlet…"

"Oh, alright, alright," she said. "Spoil sport."

* * *

**(The path to reparation is never easy.)**

Iheartgod175 proudly presents:

**FIERY HEART, BROKEN SOUL**

**Tags:**Hurt/Comfort/Family/Adventure/Drama

**Posted: **November 2014

**Rating: M (GASP!) **(for darker subjects, including psychological and physical torture, graphic violence and implied rape, as well as some sexual situations. You have been warned.)

**Summary (shortened version)**: King Dedede and Meta Knight weren't the only characters that were representing Popstar for the third Super Smash Brothers tournament. Dedede's sister Scarlet, the secret princess of Popstar, is joining them for the competition. With her upbeat, fiery attitude and almost beastly moveset, she's right at home in the tournament, making both friends and enemies out of the Smashers. What they don't know is that there is a reason for Scarlet's appearance. This story takes place from the beginning to the end of Brawl, and will also deal with the Subspace Emissary.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Super Smash Brothers, or Kirby, or Earthbound/Mother, or Super Mario. I guess that may be a good thing, since those games might be pretty dark if I directed them. Plus, Scarlet is not my original character; she is the property of Vulaan Kulaas. I'll do my best to not make her look bad.

* * *

Chapter 1: An Extra Addition  


_Smash Mansion Training Grounds  
_

_March 9th, 2008, Early Spring  
_

_Day of Super Smash Brothers Brawl Launch_

_Time: 12:30 P.M._

"FIRE!"

Mario dodged to the side as the fiery form of Fox McCloud raced past. After the vulpine disengaged his Fire Fox move, he turned around and whipped out his blaster, shooting several volleys. Thinking quickly, Mario pulled out his Super Cape, deflecting the shots easily. Fox had no time to move, and he was stunned by his own blaster.

Mario smirked as the mercenary leader attempted to get back up._  
_

He ran towards him, raising his right arm back to slam Fox upwards. Unfortunately, Fox saw the move coming, and grabbed him before he could even attack. Stars filled Mario's vision as Fox punched him several times, and then the world flipped upside down as he was tossed into the air.

Mario barely got his sight back to normal before he heard the rounds of laser fire and searing hot pain filled his body. He stifled a scream, letting out a muffled moan as he fell back to earth and slammed into the ground.

As he started to get up, he heard Fox call out, "Come on!" He looked to see the vulpine crouching with his left hand in a "Bring it" motion, a cocky smirk on his face.

Shaking his head to clear off his vision, Mario once again charged into battle, this time with his fist full of fire. He leaped over Fox and punched him in the back, sending him flying to the other side of the stage. He came in for the attack again, and leapt into the air, fist pulled back.

Fox looked upwards and saw the plumber coming towards him, clearly intending on punching him into the stage. A small smile graced his muzzle.

_Gotcha, Mario.  
_

With that, Fox performed a backflip seconds before Mario was within melee range. A look of shock permeated the plumber's face right before Fox's boot collided with his large nose, launching him up like a rocket. Fox leaped into the air, and concentrated all his energy, feeling the fire grow around him and cover his body.

Mario heard a whoosh of air, and then a loud cry of "FIRE!" hit his ears, only this time Fox was directly in front of him. He had no time to move and Fox collided with him head on, setting him on fire. The force of the attack sent Mario once again flying into the air, only this time, he was going beyond the normal limits of the stage and towards the horizon.

_Mama mia...I didn't realize my damage was THAT high!_

Mario screamed as he disappeared into the horizon, and then he head a loud voice call out, "SUCCESS!"

The next thing he knew, he was freefalling towards a large white mattress and landed on his face for the second time. He groaned, feeling the pain fully take over his body as he lay there. His arms burned from the fire and the lasers, his nose ached, and he was sure a tooth had come loose in his mouth. He sat up, rubbing his head.

"Mario? Are you alright?"

At the sound of that sweet voice, he turned and saw Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom standing there, along Zelda and the Ice Climbers. He sighed. He'd hoped that nobody had seen him lose.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Peachy," he said.

"Allow me to take you to your room, Sir Mario," Zelda said, coming over to the plumber as he got down. "You look terrible."

Mario chuckled. "I keep telling you to not call me 'Sir Mario', Zelda. That makes me feel kind of old," he said.

Zelda sighed. "Forgive me, Sir-I mean, Mario," she said. "It is an old habit of mine."

With Peach's help, Mario was able to get to his feet again. "Well, I think that should be an ample warm up for this year's Brawl tournament. But one of these days, I'm going to beat Fox," he said.

"You need to remember that Fox has excellent air recovery, and that he's one of the top ten fighters in the tournament," Peach said.

"I think I forgot that for a moment there," Mario admitted, adjusting his red cap.

Just then, the doors towards the waiting room opened and a small pink creature with large red feet ran out. Following him was a boy who looked to be no older than fourteen, who wore a yellow and blue striped shirt, capri shorts, and red sneakers. A red baseball cap rested snugly on his head.

"Hey, Kirby, Ness, what're you up to?" Mario asked.

Ness shrugged. "Nothing much, if you count trying to keep Kirby from eating my shortcake worth mentioning," he said. "I guess you'll have to do better in the preliminaries, right?"

Mario sighed. "I thought Fox would be easy to handle, but he's impossible to best in the air. And even though he's lean, he can pack some mean punches," he said. "No wonder Falco's been taking some moves from him."

"More like outright copying them," Ness smirked, to which Kirby laughed.

"I wouldn't say that to his face, though. You know how prideful that bird can be," Mario cautioned. "This year, Fox said he's supposed to bring some more moves to the table this time."

"Let's hope he can put his moves where his mouth is," Ness said.

"In the meantime, we'd better get ready for Master Hand's opening speech," Mario replied. "It'll be starting any minute. I just hope the newcomers aren't getting too restless."

* * *

_Smash Brothers Training Room  
_

_Same Time_

The jagged golden blade of Galaxia whizzed through the air, missing Scarlet by a few inches as she jumped backwards. Meta Knight pressed the advantage, leaping into the air and swinging his sword around his blade around his body again and again. Scarlet parried each strike, her face turned up into a scowl of concentration as Meta Knight pressed against her hammer. She flung her wrist, locking Meta Knight's blade against the upper neck of her hammer. The sound of wingbeats filled the air as Meta Knight hovered in midair.

"You've improved a lot since last time, Meta Knight," she remarked. "It's probably a good thing that you didn't stop training."

"A true knight never stops training," Meta Knight responded. "Now then, let's see how much you've improved."

He jumped backwards and dived downwards, his wings making him look like a drill. Scarlet covered her left hand with a ball of fire, and after dodging Meta Knight's dive, she swung around and punched him. The swordsman tumbled in midair, but only for a little bit, as his wings broke his fall.

Scarlet's grip on her hammer tightened as Meta Knight dove downwards, Galaxia aimed at her forehead. She performed a matrix dodge, feeling the blade graze her beak ever so slightly. Spinning around, she swung her hammer towards the airborne knight, catching him in a devastating blow that sent him flying across the field. Smirking, she pursued the flailing knight, a trail of fire following behind her as she did so.

Meta Knight skidded to a stop, barely preventing himself from falling, and saw the penguin charging towards him. He ran towards her and performed a running kick, knocking Scarlet out of the Flare Dash she'd been charging up. The knockback stunned her momentarily and Meta Knight took the opportunity to unleash a flurry of powerful slashes, tearing apart part of her coat and ripping the bandana from her head. With unbelievable strength, he grabbed her by her shirt, and his cape unfurled into his signature wings.

Scarlet had no time to break free of his grip, as he began to pummel her with the sharp claws of his wings. Right when she thought she could break loose, he kicked her in the stomach. The impact launched her backwards, almost causing her to tumble head over heels into the ground. Meta Knight once more took off, gliding silently and swiftly towards his opponent. He pulled his sword back, intending to do a stabbing move with it.

Scarlet, who was almost fully recovered from that knockback, saw Meta Knight approaching, and threw out a small dome like shield just before he thrust his sword forward. Galaxia punctured the shield as though it were a bubble, and the force of his strike once more sent her flying backwards into part of the castle. Chunks of rock and other debris flew everywhere, and a cloud of dust obscured Scarlet's impact-point from view.

Meta Knight huffed, getting into a defensive stance. "Are you alright, Scarlet?" he called.

There was a pause, and then a tornado of fire blazed burst from the hole, moving so fast all he could see was a red and orange blur. When he felt the wave of heat behind him, he barely had time turn around before the large head of Scarlet's hammer slammed into him with the force of a wrecking ball, sending him flying into the air. The world spun out of control for Meta Knight as he fell, and he quickly unfurled his wings in order to break the impact of the fall.

_I guess that's a yes, _he thought to himself idly.

Scarlet leaped towards him, her right hand covered with fire. Meta Knight turned around and took the air, raising his blade to meet with her fist.

They collided, and a small explosion occurred, blowing some of the trees back. Scarlet punched the knight with her fiery fist, but it did nothing to stop Meta Knight, as he attempted to send her downwards with a downward cut. She caught the blade with the shaft of her hammer, but it wasn't enough to stop the effects of gravity from taking hold. Meta Knight once again slashed at her jacket, ripping off part of it. She swung and quickly parried the follow up swing as he rushed her, intent on driving her to the ground.

Her feet hit the ground hard, and she grimaced a bit from the impact of the crash. Meta Knight dove downwards, Galaxia aimed right at her. She once again warped away to safety, part of the ground burning as she did so. Meta Knight pulled himself upwards to avoid crashing into the ground, and then the two rushed forwards, their weapons colliding with each other. There was a loud crack as Scarlet's hammer flew out of her hands and fell to the floor.

"Okay, that's it!" Dedede called. "Mock battle's over!"

The two combatants stood for what seemed like an eternity before both of them slowly pulled their weapons away. A small, shallow gash could be seen through Scarlet's coat. Scarlet smiled sheepishly.

"Well, seems like you've won again, Meta Knight," Scarlet noted.

"That does not surprise me. Only two people have ever beaten me, and that is my counterpart from the Mirror Universe and Kirby himself," Meta Knight answered, putting away Galaxia. "Although I will admit that you prevented me from using my Galaxia Darkness."

"What does that attack even do?"

"It is basically a one hit kill attack, in which I slash at my opponent after blinding them with my cape. The only problem is that I have to be close to them," Meta Knight explained. "It's harder to grab people who are farther away from me."

"I see. But I was so close!" Scarlet cried. On any other occasion that she'd fought against Meta Knight, she'd been soundly beaten, or come very close to disarming him. Then again, only two people had beaten him: his own Mirror Universe counterpart, and Kirby.

The castle around them melted away, revealing the white training room that they had been in. Various sections of the room had black splotches on the floor and walls.

Just then, the doors opened and a strange creature walked through the doors. He was tall and slim, but had a somewhat muscular build, at least from what Scarlet could tell under his green tunic. He had short, pointy ears and messy blond hair that fell loosely in front of his bright blue eyes.

Scarlet's eyes widened. _Oh my. He's _cute.

"Are you all the new combatants?" the man asked.

"Ah yes, we are. I am King Dedede of Dreamland," Dedede started.

"All in name only," Meta Knight muttered.

"-and this is Meta Knight, and my sister, Scarlet," Dedede continued without missing a beat, though he did send a death glare towards Meta Knight. "And you are?"

"Link," he said, rather professionally. "Nice to meet all of you." He shook hands with Dedede and Meta Knight, only to stop short when he saw Scarlet fidgeting. "Is there something wrong?"

The dark feathered penguin went redder in the face, if that was even possible. "N-No, I'm fine, really!" she said, laughing nervously. "I-I do look fine, don't I?"

Link nodded. "You look very pretty, Scarlet," he said.

Scarlet laughed nervously, her blush intensifying. "W-Why thank you..." she replied. "You look really pretty, too."

Now it was Link's turn to blush in embarrassment. "A-Anyway, Master Hand and Mario, the leaders of the Smash tournament, asked all newcomers to come to the amphitheater," he said gruffly, trying to not look annoyed.

"I-I see," Scarlet answered, feeling ready to kick herself. _That was smooth, Scarlet. Real smooth._

"Well, then, I'll show you the way. You might run into some of the other Smashers on the way. Try to ignore the stares; they always do that with newcomers," Link said.

"Thank you for warning us ahead of time, Link," Meta Knight answered. He looked over to see the hilt of a sword sticking from Link's back. "So, you are a swordsman like me, right?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Well, then," Meta Knight stated, his yellow eyes locking with Link's blue ones, "it looks like you and I will be battling on the field soon."

"Oh no, not this again," Dedede groaned. "Sorry about that. Meta Knight is a bit of a fighter. He loves challenging swordsmen to fights."

"I see," Link replied, looking slightly unnerved at Meta Knight. "Well, uh, are there any questions?"

"Yes, I have one," Scarlet said. "Are we immediately going to the preliminary matches right after the introductory speech?"

"Yes. These matches are really meant to test your skills, so there's no need to worry if you lose," Link explained. "Master Hand will explain all the rules of the match when we get there."

"Oh, and one more thing," Dedede said.

Link turned towards the large king. "Yes?"

"Look, I know you pretty boy types; always causing the girls to swoon over you with your dashing good looks," Dedede started. His eyes narrowed. "I'm going to put you on notice, Elf Boy. If you hurt my sister or so much as look at her the wrong way, you're getting a Jet Hammer to the face. Is that clear?"

Link raised his hands defensively. "D-Duly noted," he said.

"Oh boy," Scarlet sighed. "Don't worry about him. He's just being a bit overprotective."

"As usual," Meta Knight added.

"Thanks for the support," Dedede answered sarcastically.

* * *

_Smash Mansion Amphitheater_

Scarlet whistled in amazement. "Okay, this is nice."

The Smash Mansion Amphitheater was the largest theater that Scarlet had ever seen. Fifty rows of seats surrounded them in a bowl like angle, and the platform below them was made out of black streaked white marble. Lavish sculptures showing off the previous winners of the tournament were separated at various spots of the platform, and there was a large golden oil lamp filled to the brim with amber liquid. Banners decorated the sides of the amphitheater, all with various symbols on them. There was a large banner in between the two pillars that said, "Welcome to the Brawl!".

Dedede's jaw was level with the floor.

This was not an exaggeration in any way.

"Master Hand usually comes out after everyone has gotten in their seats," he said. He looked over at the seats and saw that most of the contestants were already there. "He shouldn't take too long."

"Where exactly are we supposed to sit?" Scarlet asked.

Link scanned the large seats for one of the competitors. "Ah, there he is."

"Who?" Scarlet asked.

"Kirby, of course," Link said matter of factly. "This year, Master Hand split up the amphitheater into factions, showing which planet or kingdom the competitors represent."

"So, basically..."

"We, along with Kirby, represent Popstar in this tournament," Meta Knight explained.

"Ah. Thanks for clearing things up for me," Scarlet replied.

Link was about to say something when there was a bright flash that filled the arena, followed by a gust of wind that nearly blew everyone down into their seats. Some people screamed in surprise and outright terror, while she and the others simply stood their ground. When she opened her eyes, she met a very interesting sight.

A massive white shape floated into the center of the amphitheater, the glow surrounding it even as the rest of the area slowly started to clear of the light. The best way it could be described was a large white, disembodied hand that seemed to be attached to nothing at all. It flexed its fingers reflexively, and began to speak. Scarlet wondered how that was even possible, considering that the hand had no mouth.

_"Welcome, Super Smash Brothers competitors!" _he boomed, his voice deep and commanding. _"I am glad that you are all here. To the veteran fighters, welcome back. To the newcomers of Smash Mansion, I am Master Hand, the Hand of Creation and Ruler over the Multiverse. I welcome you all, newcomers and veterans alike, to the third Super Smash Brothers tournament!_

_"As you are all aware, you are going to fight each other in a massive tournament to decide the winner, and the winner faces off against me. Whoever defeats me in battle will be crowned the champion, and will receive a special prize in addition. Before we begin with the actual tournament, we will introduce the newcomers and begin several preliminary matches to determine their skills and to help them settle in. I hope you rested well, champions, because you will need all the energy you can muster for these fights!"  
_

Cheers erupted in the amphitheater. Scarlet could see the assortment of creatures that had attended the tournament. An ape with a large necktie, an angel, an upright walking fox in clothes, a human teenager with three different types of creatures...

"Well, this seems to be interesting," she muttered.

_"Now then, let us see who the newcomers are this year," _Master Hand said, more to himself than to everyone. With that, he started to float around the amphitheater, doing a mental count of the competitors in each section.

Link's eyes widened, and then he slapped himself on the forehead. "Oh, crap. I forgot that I was supposed to get you to your seats!" he groaned.

As soon as he said that, Master Hand boomed, _"Where are the other two delegates from Popstar?"_

"Uh, they're right here!" Link called out, and the giant hand turned towards the Hylian swordsman. Within seconds, he was hovering over the group.

_"Link, what is the meaning of this? I asked for two delegates!" _Master Hand pointed at Scarlet, making the red-feathered penguin shrink behind her brother.

"Uh, well, when I came to meet them, she was there," Link answered uneasily.

_"Speak now, young woman, for you will have no chance to do so later," _Master Hand said, rather impatiently.

Scarlet opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt drier than freeze dried cotton in the middle of the desert. "Uh..."

Master Hand remained restless, tapping his fingers on the seats.

"Uh..."

"Listen, Master Hand, or whoever you are," Dedede said, stepping in. "You can't go around just demanding answers out of people like that, especially after you nearly scare them half to death. Who do you think you are?"

Link looked at Dedede in alarm. "Dedede, that's not such a-"

"You had your chance to talk, elf boy, now it's my turn." Hefting his large hammer on his shoulder, Dedede continued with, "I brought her here in case you're wondering. I know that you said there were only supposed to be two delegates, but Scarlet is my sister, and she has a very...special case that I think this tournament may be able to help with." He glared at the Hand of Creation. "If you kick her out of the tournament, then I'm going with her."

A series of shocked gasps and murmurs washed over everyone like a tidal wave. Master Hand said nothing, but his fingers had gone stiff with tension. Scarlet looked terrified, Meta Knight simply remained emotionless, and Link's mouth hung open.

For what seemed like eternity, no one spoke or moved a muscle. In fact, it seemed like nobody was even _breathing._

Finally, Master Hand's fingers relaxed, and he said, _"Well, then. You are a bold one, aren't you? Alright. I will let her stay. I'll consider her to be...an extra addition. Scarlet will be allowed to fight in the tournament."_

"YES!" Scarlet cheered, jumping into the air. Then she noticed about several hundred pairs of eyes locked onto her. "Oh, uh, I mean...yay." She gave a nervous smile.

_"Alright, since we have everyone that I asked for-and a few surprises," _Master Hand stated, motioning to Scarlet, _"we will now begin the standard introductions, and then the preliminary matches!"_

The crowd of champions roared their approval. Master Hand floated away towards the middle of the amphitheater, and Scarlet let out a big sigh.

"Oh, man...for a moment there, I nearly passed out from all the attention," she gasped.

"That would not have surprised me," Meta Knight replied. "After all, you are on the quiet side, in contrast to Dedede."

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Dedede accused.

"I will admit, that was pretty impressive. Nobody's ever stood up to Master Hand, except maybe Mario," Link said, "and even he doesn't get free passes."

"Hey, he was threatening my sister. Call me overprotective, but I'm not going to let some giant flying hand bully her," Dedede answered.

"You looked like Master Hand was going to zap my brother out of existence," Scarlet said.

"Actually, he does have an attack where he shoots lasers at you," Link replied.

Scarlet looked at him like he was crazy, while Meta Knight and Dedede looked neutral. Link had a "you'd better believe it" look on his face.

"You're kidding me," she said finally.

"Nope. Just wanted to give you a heads up if you do go up against him," Link said.

Scarlet sighed. "I get all the tough luck, don't I?"

"Hey!" Scarlet turned to see the upright standing fox walking over to her, along with a blue feathered pheasant that she hadn't been able to see earlier. Both of them looked like fighter pilots, with their jackets, metal boots and headsets. The fox wore dark green and red colors, while the pheasant wore mostly darker red colors for his flight suit.

"I have to admit, that took some guts to stand up to Master Hand," the fox said. "The name's Fox, by the way. Fox McCloud, leader of the mercenary team, StarFox."

"And I'm Falco Lombardi," the pheasant said. His grin was sly as he looked over at Fox. "Fox basically can't do anything without me having to save his skin, just so you know."

Fox glared at Falco. "Oh, really? I should probably mention that you're always changing loyalties?"

This earned him a glare from Falco. "Don't push it, Fox."

"Okay, you two, break it up," Link said, seeming exasperated. "We can't have you trying to tear each others' throats out again like what happened in Melee."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Fox said.

Falco rolled his eyes. "I still say Fox deserved it."

_"Falco." _Link's voice had a warning tone in it.

"Sheesh, no need to get your nightcap twisted up, Link," the pheasant replied. He then looked over at Scarlet, and the penguin found herself frozen by his cool blue eyes. "So, you're Scarlet, huh? I can see why they call you that."

"Y-Yeah...it was inevitable," Scarlet answered. "It's nice to meet you, Falco, and you as well, Fox."

"Charmed," was all Dedede had to say, as he was too busy giving Falco the evil eye.

"Likewise," Meta Knight rumbled.

"Well, it looks like you'll be fighting against me in the preliminary rounds," Fox said. "I'm one of the veterans, and all newcomers have to fight one of the veteran fighters one on one."

"Oh man, I can't wait to see how that turns out," Falco sniggered.

"I recall you saying a similar thing when Roy came to the tournament. You left the stadium in pieces," Fox replied.

"I'm not gonna let that happen again. You just watch," Falco said.

"Let's hope you can act on your words, birdbrain," Scarlet teased.

**END OF CHAPTER 1**

* * *

_**And there is chapter one! Once I get the outline started, the next few chapters should come easily.**_

_**For those of you wondering, I'll see if I can squeeze in all the competitors to interact with Scarlet and the gang. So far, I have the Earthbound/Mother cast and the Star Fox team as main recurring characters, and I may put Pokémon Trainer in her as well. As stated earlier, I'll be going into the Subspace Emissary with a lot more detail, though that's going to be farther down the road. There's going to be a lot of stuff, and it may be my longest story ever.**_

_**Next chapter will go into the preliminary fights and introduce good old Mario and the veteran crew, as well as some newcomers like Olimar and Lucas. Let me know what you think in your reviews!**_

_**God bless, iheartgod175**_


	2. Chapter 2: Show Me Your Moves

**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter done. I kind of lost interest in Super Smash Brothers for a while, and then I got into HB cartoons, and then I had writer's block which made me redo this chapter twice...anyway, it was a lot of stuff that kept this chapter from being posted sooner. I didn't want to give my readers a half-baked chapter, even it it is shorter than I originally planned it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this (somewhat short) chapter!

* * *

Chapter 2: Show Me Your Moves

_Smash Mansion Amphitheater_

_Lower Level_

_Hours later_

"So, Mario, what do you think of the newcomers?" Link asked. Everyone else was in the training rooms of the Smash Mansion doing some last minute preparations for the preliminary rounds.

The twelve veterans of the tournament, which included Mario and Link, were gathered on the lower level of the amphitheater as part of their standard meeting to determine the skills of the newcomers.

The red-capped plumber stroked his mustache. "To be honest, I think the newcomers for this year's tournament are going to be more interesting than last year's. We really do have people from almost every world in the multiverse," he explained.

"I don't get why we had to invite some weird version of Link for the ride," Fox grumbled. "He looks so out of place."

"That's exactly what you said in Melee about Young Link. He beat you pretty soundly in that battle, if I recall," Mario said.

Fox's face went red with embarrassment and he looked away, shame on his face. "Point taken," he said.

"We do have some extra competitors from certain worlds," Luigi said. "There are three other Pokemon this year in addition to Pikachu and Jigglypuff. Plus, Kirby brought along Dedede and Meta Knight, and then Ness brought along some other kid from Onett."

"Luigi, he's not from Onett at all. He's from this place called the Nowhere Islands," Mario corrected. "He's a really shy boy. He practically whispered a hello to me when I greeted him."

"Don't worry, in about three days or so, he'll be getting along with everyone else," Fox replied. "We all had tournament jitters when we first started out fighting."

"Well, most of us did. I recall Bowser and Ganondorf not having that problem." Mario grimaced. "They almost thrashed everyone in the beginning matches."

"I have one other question," Fox started, irritation in his voice. "Why did you invite _Wolf _of all people to join this year's Smash Brothers' tournament?"

Mario sighed. "I didn't invite him. That was Master Hand's idea. He felt that Lylat deserved some more recognition, and apparently, many wanted him to appear."

"Oh, joy," Fox groaned.

"I'm still confused as to why Sonic is here," Link noted. "I mean, he's not even part of our multiverse."

"Well, it's mostly because he and I are more or less friendly rivals now," Mario explained. "I told him after the Peking Olympics that the Super Smash Brothers tournament would be starting soon, and he said that he'd be here if there weren't any problems in his world. I talked it over with Master Hand, and he said it was alright since he had another competitor from another world coming as well."

"You and Sonic are friends now? Consider me shocked," Fox said. "Or I would be, if I didn't see it coming from miles away."

"I didn't see it coming. After all, twenty years ago Mario and Sonic were trying to beat the crap out of each other," Captain Falcon answered.

"I'm curious how Scarlet is going to factor in to the roster. She literally showed up out of nowhere before the matches started," Luigi noted. "Master Hand looked unhappy about that."

"Well, it's mostly because he's the one who sends the invitational to challengers. People used to show up and just apply, but something happened for Master Hand to suddenly switch to handing out invites," Mario explained. There was a troubled expression in his eye that didn't go unnoticed by Luigi.

"Are you okay, bro?" he asked.

Mario blinked and turned to his younger brother. "Sorry about that, Luigi. I was just thinking of something." He looked around the group, suddenly realizing that someone was missing. "Hey, where's Ness?"

The other veterans mumbled and shrugged in response. Mario groaned, "Is he messing with the other fighters again?"

Before anybody could answer, an explosion occurred on the other side of the stadium. A large tongue of orange fire rose out of the roof.

"I think that answers your question, Mario," Luigi said.

"It's the same thing that happens every time. People can't wait until the tournament, so they go picking fights with each other," Samus groaned.

"And from the looks of things," Fox added, "Ness picked the wrong person to pick a fight with…"

* * *

_Super Smash Mansion_

_Outside of the Training Rooms_

The heat surrounding Ness threatened to roast him and Lucas alive, which wasn't a good thing considering who they were currently dealing with. Heavy footsteps shook the floor, and Lucas cowered behind him in fear. Ness's eyes widened in horror as a large hulking shape emerged from the inferno.

_No way…I hit him with a maximum power PK Fire and he's still standing?!_

A deep, rumbling laugh confirmed Ness's fears, and red-orange eyes, bright as the fire itself, bore into both teenagers' souls. The figure was a large, hulking creature who appeared to be a cross between an ox, a dragon and a turtle, as it had small pointy horns and a large shell covered with spikes. He stood upright, four clawed fingers clenched into fists.

"You thought you could destroy me with your fancy fire attack?" Another rumbling laugh. "I figured you were naïve, but this borders on flat out stupidity. I live in a realm surrounded by lava. I've been knocked into lava countless times. I breathe fire. Heck, I've been knocked into the sun, and I'm still standing. I can withstand fire better than most." A cruel smile graced the monster's features. "But I wonder if _you _can withstand this, Ness!"

Ness jumped in front of Lucas as Bowser unleashed a wave of fire breath that came roaring down the hall. The shield barely came up just in time, but Ness could feel it melting under the heat of Bowser's fire breath. He hoped that somebody was around to help, or that they had heard all of the commotion. Because he needed some serious help, and Lucas was too terrified to even do that-

_CRASH!_

The shield burst in an explosion of red and white sparks, and the force sent Ness flying into the air and crashing onto the ground behind Lucas. Every part of his body was hot with pain from the explosion, and his head felt like somebody had just hit it with a sledgehammer. He groaned as he tried to come to his senses, barely registering Lucas' shouts or Bowser's evil laugh.

"Ness!" Lucas shouted.

"Now then, where were we?" Bowser rumbled, turning his attention towards Lucas. "Oh, now I remember. I was going to make you my personal punching bag."

Lucas looked around him, fear gripping his very being as Bowser came closer. Ness was down for the count, nobody was around to help, and Bowser, being bigger than him, could toss him around like a rag doll. Before Lucas could think of anything else, Bowser's large hand closed around his waist and he was lifted into the air. The world flipped upside down as he was hurled into flames and to the other side of the room. He hit the floor with a scream, his singed arms taking a beating from the contact with the floor.

"Come on, is that all you've got?" Bowser came through the flames, his sneer smug. "You're supposed to be a powerful PSI user, and yet all you do is cry. You're the most pathetic challenger I've ever met. No wonder nobody likes you back home. I bet your family's disappointed in you."

When he said that, a great raging flame burst to life within Lucas, consuming the fear that had crippled him moments earlier. With some effort, he got to his feet and glared at Bowser, who had tormented him on his first day, had hurt Ness, and insulted his family.

"Enough…" he whispered, his voice backed with an unholy amount of wrath.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," Bowser said mockingly.

_"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" _Lucas screamed, his patience snapping. Blue energy formed above his head, condensing into a large snowflake. Even though it wasn't fully charged, he could still feel the chill from the attack seeping into his bones. He guided the snowflake towards the King of the Koopas, who was preparing to strike him with his open palm.

_"PK FREEZE!" _

There was a large cracking sound, and then something large and heavy fell to the ground with such force that the walls shuddered. Lucas was thrown to the ground, and the room was filled with arctic air.

"Brr…why does it suddenly feel so col-whoa…" Ness, having finally recovered from his shock from the shield explosion, sat up to see a massive iceberg sitting in front of him, which was quickly melting away due to the flames. Inside that iceberg was Bowser himself, shock resonating on his face. Ness looked at the frozen King, and then looked at Lucas, who looked angry.

The mask of anger quickly disappeared from Lucas' face, replaced with pain and fear. The blonde haired boy groaned in pain as he looked at his arms, which were covered in burns and other bruises.

Ness ran over to help him. "Lucas, are you alright?" he asked.

The boy nodded silently, staring down at his hands in what Ness assumed was horror. Before he could ask what was wrong, there was a shout of his name. Ness froze as he recognized Mario's voice, and then he remembered the meeting he was supposed to be at.

"I'm screwed," Ness muttered as Mario, Fox and Captain Falcon came around the hall, just as Bowser burst out of the iceberg. Sheets of ice glistened on his muscular arms, and the King of the Koopas turned to face the guilty party with a death glare that could have killed the Grim Reaper.

_"You…" _he growled, pointing at Lucas. "When I'm done with you, you're going to wish you never came here!"

Lucas prepared to run, but that was when Mario stepped in front of him, facing the angry King of the Koopas. His blue eyes were dark with restrained anger.

"Bowser," Mario sighed, irritation in his voice. "I should have expected that you were behind this."

"I was just having a little fun with the kids before the preliminary matches," Bowser replied. "Last time I checked, that wasn't a crime."

"Well, setting part of the building on fire is," Mario retorted.

"Hey, don't blame me for that," Bowser snapped. "I'd blame it on the walking disaster zone here."

Ness' face flushed with anger. "You're the reason I did that, you overgrown turtle!"

"Alright, knock it off, Ness," Mario ordered. The boy's mouth snapped shut instantly, though he did let out a low groan. Mario looked at all three of them with stern expressions. "I'll have to report all three of you to Master Hand for this."

"Since when did you become Master Hand's errand boy?" Bowser sneered.

"Since Melee, that's when. Fox, Captain Falcon, I'll need you to put out the rest of this fire. Lucas' attack took care of most of it," Mario ordered. He turned towards Ness, Lucas and Bowser. "You three, follow me."

Bowser glared at Mario, and for a moment Lucas thought that he was going to roast him alive. But he snorted, and turned to Lucas. "This isn't over, Blondie," he growled. "You'll get what's coming to you soon enough."

"That's _enough_, Bowser," Mario snapped, and turned to lead the three towards the upper levels of the building. Ness was silently stewing about different attacks he could use to beat Bowser next time, while Lucas was as white as a ghost.

_Great job, Lucas. Now you just made another person hate you. _

* * *

"What happened down there?" Scarlet asked, noting the smoke and the wardens that were coming down the hall.

Falco looked up and saw Mario, Ness, Lucas and Bowser walking down the hall towards Master Hand's room. "Wow. I knew Ness was fight-happy, but to pick a fight with _Bowser_ of all people? That's just asking for your funeral," he said, shaking his head. "Kids these days…"

"Bowser is the tall dragon…thing, right?" she asked.

"Yep, though I wouldn't exactly call him that to his face. He'd flip out if he heard that. He's Mario's eternal nemesis. They've never gotten along, even though Mario invites him to his parties and racing tournaments in the Mushroom Kingdom," Falco said. "Why he does that, I have no idea."

"What are their racing competitions like?" Scarlet asked, curious.

"Well, I've never been to one, but from what Luigi's told me, they're pretty crazy. I mean, flying turtle shells that explode when they hit the first person ahead? And who came up with the idea to put bombs on a racetrack?"

"That sounds awesome! I wish I could go," Scarlet said. "Though I'd need to take some driving lessons first…"

Falco shrugged and turned back to read his magazine, but that was when he caught a peek at Scarlet's right hand. Large black streaks of burns coursed up her fingers and across the back of her hand like a series of winding rivers. He couldn't see anything else, as her large blue sleeve was covering her wrist, but he had the feeling that there were even more scars underneath that.

He'd gotten some pretty bad scars himself due to his missions, but he'd never been burned through his feathers. Out of curiosity, he found himself looking up to see if there were any burns on Scarlet's face or neck, and he found even more of the same thing. How had he not seen these before?

Scarlet saw Falco staring at her and turned to face him with a startled look. "W-What are you looking at me for?" she asked.

"Your scars…I don't think I've seen that many of them," Falco noted. "I mean, it looks like somebody was trying to burn you up."

Scarlet's muscles twitched in response to that question, but she responded with, "Yeah, you can say that."

Falco's eyes widened slightly in horror. "Geez, there are some sick people out here in this universe, you know that?"

"You have no idea," Scarlet muttered, her voice low with anger. "Thankfully, the person who did this to me is right where he belongs now."

Falco was about to ask another question, but he saw the raw anger and pain in Scarlet's eyes, and decided not to ask. Whatever had happened to her was worse than what she was telling him, and that it was making her angry to even talk about it.

Well, he was no therapist, but he kind of saw where she was coming from. He didn't like to show his emotions around anybody, either. He had a reputation to maintain, after all.

Just as he was starting to turn back to his magazine, the doors opened and Mario came in, looking like he'd been through a very long and exhausting day. His cheerful expression from earlier was gone, replaced by a look of utter worry.

"What happened to Ness this time?" he asked.

"Well, he's currently talking with Master Hand, as are Bowser and Lucas," Mario said. "From the looks of things, it seems like they're in trouble."

"I know Ness got hit with it hard, though," Falco mused.

"He's always been in rough spots with Master Hand," Mario replied. "But I think Master Hand should cut him some slack. I mean, he went through a whole lot of things back in his hometown, with that horrible monster attacking and his best friend betraying him. I think that caused him to snap."

"Well, that's a new idea," Falco answered, and Mario rolled his eyes in resignation. "So, are we going to start the tournament soon, or what?"

"Well, Master Hand said that it would be alright to start the preliminary matches now. Ness just won't be participating in the opening round. He and Bowser will in the third round," he said.

Scarlet stretched her arms, feeling her bones pop into place. "Well, then, let's get going!" she urged. "I'm getting bored just sitting here with nothing to do."

"So am I," Falco said. "I can't wait to make Pretty Boy cry this year."

"Who's that?" Scarlet asked.

"He means Marth, one of the swordsmen in the tournament," Mario explained. "If you happen to meet him, you'll see why Falco calls him that."

"Oh…" Scarlet muttered. _Geez, and I thought some of the penguins back home were girly-looking..._

* * *

_Super Smash Brothers Battlefield_

_Ten minutes later_

"I'm glad Master Hand's got Ness and Lucas under control," Captain Falcon stated, flexing his muscles and throwing out a few punches to ready himself. "I'm ready to try out one of my new moves."

"You have a new move?" Fox asked.

"Yep. It's for my Grand Finale," he said.

"You know we won't be able to pull those out until the real thing, right?"

"Hey, Master Hand likes to bend the rules a bit. He promised everyone that no one would be getting any ultimate attacks or forms. Then Giga Bowser showed up," Captain Falcon said.

"Yeah, I remember everyone was fighting to get their own ultimate forms afterwards," Fox replied. "You'll be surprised to see what I have for my Final Smash."

"It won't be as cool as having the Blue Falcon crashing into you," Falcon argued.

"I'm telling you, it's way cooler than that," Fox replied.

A loud alarm drowned out Captain Falcon's response, and the two turned to see two flashes of blue light appear in the middle of the arena. The light disappeared to reveal two people.

The first was a small man with a bulbous nose, pointy ears, and a shock of light brown hair. His eyes were closed in a sleepy looking expression, and he wore a yellow space suit with red gloves. Surrounding him were three smaller creatures that looked like plants, colored red, yellow and blue, respectively. Small flowers that resembled daisies sprouted on their heads.

The second was Scarlet, who brandished her hammer with confidence. Fox's eyes widened in surprise.

"Scarlet? I didn't think you were going to show up," Fox noted. "Most newcomers have the jitters during the preliminaries."

"Well, I'm not one of those newcomers. I came here to fight, and that's what I'm going to do," she replied.

"Yeah, we'll see how long you'll last against Fox," Captain Falcon retorted. "He may not look like much, but he is light on his feet, and pretty powerful, too. As for you, little guy," he said, pointing at the astronaut, "you and me will be fighting after Fox and Scarlet are finished."

The little astronaut shuddered in fear, but just when he was opening his mouth to speak, the captain steered him over to the other side of the stage, away from the battle.

"Alright, guys!" Captain Falcon called. "Show me your moves!"

Fox and Scarlet squared off for a moment, neither of them making the first move.

A breeze wafted through the air, ruffling feathers and fur.

Scarlet's grip tightened.

Fox's eyes narrowed.

And then, the two combatants sprang into action, covering the short distance between them in a heartbeat. Hammer and foot clashed, the sound of the collision rattling both of their ears. The corners of Scarlet's beak formed a wicked grin as she broke the lock, jumping backwards as Fox opened fire with his blaster.

The duel was on.

**END OF CHAPTER 2**

* * *

**_Why, yes, I am leaving you on a cliffhanger. There will be more fighting next chapter, and I'll explain what happened with Lucas and Ness. Olimar will appear next chapter. So far, I know just who I'm focusing on for this story: Scarlet, Dedede, Meta Knight, Fox, Falco, Ness, Lucas, and (possibly) Olimar. In order to get a good feel for Olimar, I'll probably have to start playing him soon. Oh, and I couldn't resist putting in references to the Final Smash. I hope I can get the next few chapters out sooner. Again, sorry for the wait, and let me know what you thought in your reviews!_**

**_God bless, iheartgod175_**


	3. Chapter 3: Took Me By Surprise

**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter done...again. I kind of lost interest in Super Smash Brothers for a while, and then I got into HB cartoons, and then I had writer's block which made me redo this chapter twice...anyway, it was a lot of stuff that kept this chapter from being posted sooner. I know a lot of you were waiting, but I hate rushing through chapters, because I never feel like I do my absolute best. Quality matters more to me than quantity. And since this story will have over a hundred chapters, I want to make sure that each chapter gets the quality it deserves, even it it is shorter than I originally planned it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this (somewhat short) chapter!

* * *

Chapter 3: Took Me by Surprise

_Super Smash Mansion_

_Viewing Theater_

The Viewing Theater was one of the largest rooms in the entire Smash Mansion, surpassed only by the spacious Amphitheater. There were over a hundred rows of seats that led upwards in an arc. It was the place where the Smashers could view replays of their matches or watch tournaments. Other times, it was used for home movies if everyone wanted to get together.

Today, the theater was filling up quickly due to the preliminary matches starting. The battle between Fox and Scarlet was already on the silver screen when Falco made his way inside. A white towel was wrapped around his neck, and he took a long drink from his water bottle. He had put a lot into his recent training session with Marth, and the result left him parched.

Falco sat in a seat in the middle row, waiting for Marth to show up. He scoffed, knowing that the blue haired prince from Altea would be in the middle of dolling himself up. Marth liked to use the term "freshening", but Falco would have none of it.

The doors opened again, and Falco turned to see who it was walking inside. His beak turned upwards into a smirk. _Speak of the devil, huh? _He thought.

Marth bounded down the steps at a reasonable pace, his blue hair combed back and his sword clanking against his boots as he walked. He slid into the seat besides Falco, and when his long cape hit Falco's face, he caught a whiff of cologne.

"Geez, and you wonder why I call you a pretty boy, Marth," he said.

Marth rolled his eyes. "Well, someone has to keep an eye on their appearance," he said. "I can't believe you haven't changed out of your training gear."

"Hey, I'm going to get all sweaty and dirty anyway," Falco replied. "There's really no point in it."

Marth shrugged. "I suppose in a way, you're right. Even so, I like to make a good impression on people when I meet them," he said.

"So, what do you think of Scarlet so far, Marth?" Falco asked, his eyes focused on the fight taking place on the screen. Scarlet had taken a hit from Fox's Fire Fox move, but she managed to bounce back and drop her hammer on top of his head, sending him flying. A series of loud gasps and murmurs went through the crowd.

"Hmm? Ah, yes, the unexpected newcomer," Marth replied. "As I haven't met her in person, I can't say for certain what I think of her. But I do think that she'll fit in quite well her with the other competitors." He turned towards Falco with a look of mild amusement. "Why? Are you interested in her?"

"What?" Falco turned to face the swordsman with an incredulous look. "Have you heard about how protective her brother is of her? Link told me that Dedede told him to make sure that did nothing to Scarlet, or he's going to get a Jet Hammer to the face. Imagine how he'd react if I liked her, which I don't."

"Either way, she's doing pretty well for her first match. Most newcomers are quick to bite the dust when facing the veterans. I remember my first match against Link. He was incredible," Marth said.

"Yeah, and Bowser almost roasted me alive in my first match," Falco replied. He then chuckled. "I am so looking forward to rubbing this in Fox's face."

Marth groaned. "Why am I not surprised by that?"

* * *

Volleys of blaster fire whizzed through the air, with some of the shots narrowly missing Scarlet's bandana by an inch or two. Most of them, however, were dead set on her. She grimaced as each shot slammed into her, causing her scars to burn with pain. When Fox took off for her, she performed a matrix dodge, feeling a rush of wind against her face as his boot swung through empty air. She used this opportunity to aim for his face, and he leaped backwards to avoid the punch. That did little to stop Scarlet, though, for she surrounded herself in fire and dashed forwards, gaining momentum as she slid across the battlefield.

Fox was sent flying into the air, his whole body on fire. Scarlet disengaged the Flare Dash, and leaped after him, feeling the weight of her hammer shift as the back of the head pulled back to reveal a large thruster. A jet engine like whine filled the air as the thruster burst to life.

When Fox landed on the small platform to her right, she slammed her hammer into him with all the force of a train. Fox went flying again, and she skidded to a stop, pulling her hammer back before it went flying out of her hands. Thankfully, the thrusters retracted and folded back into the hammer.

"I've got to ask Dedede about disengaging this thing," she said. She looked around for Fox, only for a whoosh of air to whip her jacket. She barely had time to look turn around before he was on top of her, a blur of orange and red fire. She quickly brought up her hammer just as he crashed into her.

The sheer kinetic force of the collision sent Scarlet crashing through the platform and into the ground. Shards of glass and concrete flew everywhere, almost blinding Fox.

The vulpine skidded to a stop, fire trailing off of his boots as he disengaged his Fire Fox technique. He was about to ask if she was okay when a tornado of fire burst from Scarlet's landing place, moving so fast all he could see was a red and orange blur. He jumped backwards, feeling the fire singe his fur.

Scarlet burst out of the tornado, her hammer raised high over her head. Before Fox could even move, the hammer dropped on the ground with crushing force. Shockwaves went through the battlefield, and the force once again sent Fox airborne. She went over to the other side of the stage, and when Fox hit the ground again, she slammed the hammer downwards.

BAM!

The shockwaves this time sent Fox flying so high, he could barely be seen by anybody in the viewing theater. A few seconds later, there was a loud, reverberating scream that could be heard as Fox disappeared into the horizon. His form disappeared, and then there was a twinkling of a star as he disappeared for good.

On the outskirts of the stage, Captain Falcon gaped. Olimar's expression remained unchanged, but he sat forwards with rapt interest, his small mouth formed into an "O" of surprise. Beside him, his Pikmin stared at her with wide eyes.

After a few seconds, a triumphant voice boomed, "GAME!" A chorus of cheers and raucous applause followed soon afterwards. The voice continued with, "WE HAVE A WINNER!"

Scarlet, who was recovering from the fatigue of using two Hammer Smashes back to back, stared at the sky, shocked to hear this news. Then her features turned upwards into a proud grin, and she hefted her hammer onto her shoulders proudly, even spinning the shaft to show off.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"'

* * *

The Viewing Theater was in an uproar. Many people were cheering and jumping out of their seats in joy, while others stared at the screen in utter disbelief. Others grumbled with annoyance, saying that it was just beginner's luck that Scarlet had won the match.

Falco and Marth were currently starting at the screen with surprise. Neither of them had expected things to go like this.

"Well," Marth said finally, straightening his jacket, "that took me by surprise."

"You're telling me," Falco said. His look of disbelief was quickly melted away by the grin that threatened to split his face. "Oh, man! Fox is **never **going to hear the end of this!"

Marth chuckled. "Well, it won't be as bad as when he lost against Young Link during the preliminaries. He had to lock himself in his room for days," he said.

"Yeah, that was embarrassing!" Falco was howling with laughter, and Marth sighed. He was about to say more when the doors slammed open with such force, the whole room shook. All commotion died the moment Bowser stomped into the room, his face twisted with rage. Most of the fighters glared at him with some level of disdain, while the younger fighters cowered in their seats.

Falco watched the king sit into a seat up front, and scoffed. "Looks like Master Hand really lit into him," he remarked to Marth.

"Indeed. He doesn't like to be pointed out on his mistakes," Marth said. His face twisted with concern. "I am curious about what happened to Ness and Lucas. I can only imagine what Master Hand said to them."

"Well, if Lizard Boy didn't like it much, I doubt Ness will. You know how hot-tempered he is," Falco replied.

"I would refrain from calling Bowser a lizard if I were you," Marth warned. "You remember what happened to Roy when he called him that."

Falco grimaced. "And people wonder why he has no interest in coming back," he said. "Bowser beat the freakin' crap out of him."

"That he did," Marth replied.

Conversation died again when the door slammed open. Everyone turned to see the guilty party make their way down to the seats. Ness's face was as red as his baseball cap, while Lucas had his head hung in shame. They sat in the middle row, several seats apart from each other. One could cut the tension in the air with a butter knife.

Both Falco and Marth were almost relieved to hear the next fight announced. _"Fight 2: Captain Falcon VS Captain Olimar!" _the announcer blared over the loudspeaker. The room was filled with chatter, mostly about the fight, but others were talking about what had happened to Ness, Lucas and Bowser.

"Things must be pretty bad if Ness is coming in there looking angry like that," Marth noted.

"Yeah. Knowing Bowser, he probably managed to pin the blame on the kid," Falco said. "Something like that is going to make anybody mad."

"Let's not dwell on it too much, though," Marth replied, turning his attention towards the battle between Olimar and Captain Falcon. "The last thing we need is Bowser to cause another incident in here like last time."

"You just love to bring up bad memories, don't you?" Falco asked.

Marth rolled his eyes. "I'm just making sure history doesn't repeat itself," he sighed.

* * *

Scarlet stepped off of the arena, sweat drenching her bandana and her coat sticking to her back. A triumphant smile graced her beak as she entered the break room, her body full of pent up energy from the fight. Too bad there couldn't have been double rounds-she still had plenty of energy for another one.

The doors to the break room slammed open, and Dedede burst in, a wide grin on his face. Following behind him were Meta Knight and Mario, who held a small green ticket in his hands. Dedede almost tackled his little sister to the ground with the force of his hug.

"I knew you could do it!" he said, squeezing the air out of her. "I'm so proud of you! You were amazing!"

"Heh...thanks, big bro," she choked out, patting him on the back. "Although...I'd like to breathe, too."

"Oh. Sorry." Dedede let go of Scarlet, his grin sheepish. "But seriously, though. You were great."

"Indeed. You managed to best Fox well in that fight," Meta Knight said. "Good job."

Scarlet beamed. "Thanks, Meta Knight," she replied.

A series of footsteps sounded behind her soon after, and Fox more or less limped off of the arena. His pilot jacket, pants and fur were singed in many places, and there were many burns on his shoulders and upper body. Scarlet's triumphant smile disappeared into a look of utter horror as she looked at him.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" she asked.

"Heh, I'll be fine. Trust me, you're not the only fire-wielder I have to deal with in this tournament," he said.

"I know Mario's one of them, but who else?" Scarlet asked.

Fox made to answer, but a loud cry of "FALCON PUNCH!" drowned out his words. Everyone turned around to see Captain Falcon slam a fire-covered fist directly at Olimar's face, sending him and three Pikmin flying off the stage. Olimar, however, used the three remaining Pikmin as a chain to grapple onto the ledge. The moment the red Pikmin grabbed the ledge, Olimar vaulted over the edge and came back to the stage, resulting in a chorus of gasps from the crowd. The smaller captain ignored most of the cries, though, as he ordered his Pikmin into battle and ran to charge Captain Falcon again.

"People like Captain Falcon, for starters," Fox said. "He's actually one of the strongest fighters here, aside from Bowser and Ganondorf."

"Falco was telling me about Bowser. I don't really like him much, and that's just going off of what I heard," Scarlet replied.

"You won't really like him when you meet him, either. He likes to start fights with everybody in the whole mansion," Fox replied. "I'd keep my distance from him if I were you. He likes to make punching bags out of newcomers."

"Yeah? We'll see about that," Scarlet said, folding her arms. "He'll be in for a rude surprise if he tries that with me."

Just then the doors to the break room opened again, and the last people Fox wanted to see walked in the door. He groaned when Falco started laughing.

"Oh, man! She beat you up bad, Fox!" he cackled, doing his best to not fall over laughing.

Marth was more composed than Falco, though he too shuddered with laughter. "Indeed," he said. Fox's face burned with embarrassment, while Scarlet scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Well, to be honest, I did kind of go easy on him," Scarlet said. "I had to hold back most of my true strength from him in order to make sure I didn't kill him."

"Wow. I'm impressed," Marth replied. "Though to be honest, that happens a lot here. Many competitors have to hold themselves back here in the tournament. Even Master Hand himself does the same thing, when the winner faces off against him."

Scarlet's eyes widened in shock. "Y-You mean...we actually _do _go up against Master Hand? Link said we may go up against him!"

Marth scoffed. "Link has the habit of leaving out important details. After preliminaries where we introduce the newer competitors, we have a large tournament where everyone fights to make it to the final rounds. And whoever wins in the final rounds gets to challenge Master Hand himself. It is no easy task, let me tell you," he explained.

"At least Crazy Hand is absent from the tournament this year. That guy creeps me out," Falco said.

"Who's Crazy Hand?" Scarlet asked.

"Well, he's Master Hand's crazy evil twin. His fighting style is erratic, and he likes to give people a challenge. Back in Melee, whoever beat Master Hand _and _Crazy Hand gets the grand prize," Marth said.

"What was the grand prize?" Dedede asked.

"One wish for whatever you could possibly ask for," Marth replied. "Except, of course, wishing for more wishes."

Dedede looked like a kid on Christmas morning. Scarlet could practically see the dollar signs flash through his eyes. "I think I know what I'm going to wish for," he said.

"Well, I don't really know what I would wish for," Scarlet said. "There are so many things I want, I can't choose just one thing."

"If it were up to me, I wish there would be no trouble back in the Lylat system," Falco replied. "I'd honestly like everything to be at peace for once."

"I can't agree more," Fox answered. "Though we will have to find other ways to make some more money, though..."

Scarlet was about to ask questions about the Lylat system when a distinct smell, hot and metallic, reached her nose. Her nostrils flared as she took in the scent. "What's that smell?" she asked.

Fox turned towards the door leading to the break room, and his eyes widened. The sides of the steel doors were red with heat. When the doors started melting, he yelled, "EVERYBODY GET BACK!"

Nobody needed to be told twice. Everyone jumped back about ten feet the moment a torrent of red and orange flames burst through, destroying the doors and lighting the chairs on fire. Alarms blared to life and the emergency sprinklers came on, raining water on everybody.

"What the heck was that about?" Scarlet growled.

Large, lumbering footsteps came from the hallway and a large hulking creature who appeared to be a cross between an ox, a dragon and a turtle, as it had small pointy horns and a large shell covered with spikes. He stood upright, four clawed fingers clenched into fists. His red-orange eyes were bright with rage.

"Oh, great," Fox breathed. "Bowser."

Bowser turned in the direction of the group of assembled competitors. All of them looked ready to tear him a new one, Dedede especially. But the blue-furred penguin wasn't the one that the King of the Koopas had his sights on. He locked eyes with the penguin with the scarred red feathers, and smirked.

He was going to have a field day with this.

"So, you're the little challenger that beat Fox, huh?" he said. "Congrats, Scarface."

In a matter of seconds, Scarlet had gone from standing next to Dedede to standing right in front of Bowser. Her hands were gripping the shaft of her hammer so hard it vibrated from the force, and she glared at the King, her eyes darker than thunderclouds.

"What did you just call me?" she demanded, her voice dangerously low.

"What? Isn't 'Scarface' a fitting nickname for you?" Bowser asked, feigning innocence. "Granted, I could have called you worse, but..."

"Let me make something clear to you, Lizard Boy," Scarlet hissed, her face set into a scowl, "_nobody _calls me by that nickname. You got it? _Nobody._"

Bowser's smile was infuriatingly calm. "Seems as though I've hit a nerve," he said.

"Hit it again, and you'll regret the day you ever saw my face," she snarled.

"Oh trust me. I already do." The smirk disappeared from Bowser's face. "Ever since you've shown up here, all anybody can talk about is the new girl who Master Hand let in uninvited. And now they won't shut up about your handing Fox his butt on a platter. So, I decided to find you and challenge you to a fight myself. Just to see how good you actually are."

"You want to know how good I am? I can kick your arrogant shell all over the place," Scarlet retorted. "Don't think I can't either."

Marth looked a shade or two paler as he watched the scene unfold. "Scarlet, I don't think that's such-"

"Stay out of this, Dandy. This is between me and Scarface over here," Bowser snapped. He relished in the look of utter rage that crossed Scarlet's face when he said that. "For a small penguin, you've got a pretty big mouth. I'd go as far as to say you're all bark and no bite."

"I'd be more than happy to prove you wrong. Right now," she snapped.

The maddening smile was back on Bowser's face. "Be my guest," he said. At the sound of a loud whooshing noise, he turned to see Captain Falcon and Olimar step out of the portal that led to the arena. Both captains had their clothes ruined from the blows they'd been trading at each other, and Olimar's space helmet had long cracks running through the top. "You two took forever."

Captain Falcon fixed Bowser with a hard glare. "It ended up being a close match. Olimar might be little, but he and his Pikimin are formidable foes," he said.

Olimar blushed. "U-Uh...well, you had the better moves, Captain Falcon," he said. "I think you outdid me in the second half..."

"Formidable? This shrimp and his pack of crazy weeds?" Bowser sneered, pointing at Olimar. "The only way he could end up beating you to a tie, Captain Falcon, is if you were going easy on him."

Captain Falcon's right hand began to glow with fire and he pulled his fist back. _"Falcon PUNCH!" _

Nobody had time to stop the captain. An explosive burst of fire, shaped into a falcon, slammed into Bowser as Captain Falcon's fist connected with his face, sending him flying into the wall. There was a huge crash and the wall shuddered as he slid to the floor.

"Cap!" Fox and Falco yelled. The bounty hunter didn't pay them any attention, just shifted into a fighting stance, his gloves glowing with fire.

Bowser got to his haunches, his eyes alight with rage. "Well, now, we've got the normally stoic bounty hunter losing his cool? Come on, Captain Falcon! Let's see how much you can dish out when you're really angry!" he said. With that, he let out a burst of fire that lit up the carpet floor. Captain Falcon sprung forwards, his right arm drawn back in preparation for another punch.

Just then, a flash of yellow came between the two combatants, sending Bowser's gust of flame back at him and knocking Captain Falcon off balance. Both of them yelled as they were thrown into the walls. Everyone looked to see Mario in the middle of the makeshift arena, a long golden cape in his hand. Taking a second to pocket his large cape, he fixed both Bowser and Captain Falcon with a pointed glare.

"That's enough from both of you! Do you seriously want people to get killed in this tournament?!" he snapped. "If you have to fight each other, pick a stage anywhere in this stadium and settle it there. But I will not allow you two to put the lives of the newcomers or the veteran fighters in danger!" He turned towards Captain Falcon. "You need to control yourself, Cap," he said. He then turned towards Bowser. "And you need to stop picking fights with people!"

"Well, what if the other contestant has agreed?" Bowser growled. "Scarface over here told me that she'd take me up on my challenge."

Mario's eyes narrowed. "If you two already agreed, then that's fine. But I'm not going to let you continue to provoke fights out of others. I'll be letting you off of the hook this time, Bowser, but if something like this happens again, I'll know. And you will regret ever having me as your nemesis," he said.

Bowser scoffed, the threat having not deterred him in the slightest. He got up from the floor, and marched over to the portal resolutely. "You coming, Scarface?" he asked rudely.

Dedede looked over at his younger sister, who looked ready to beat his face into the floorboards. "You know, you don't have to go out there if you don't want to," he said.

Scarlet shook her head. "No. I shot off my big mouth and accepted his challenge. If there's one thing I don't do, it's backing down from a fight." She looked over at her brother, who looked worried, and smiled. "Hey, don't worry. I'll win this."

Dedede sighed. "I hope so," he muttered, but he let her go. With her head held high and adrenaline coursing through her veins, she walked inside the portal that led to the Battlefield.

Captain Falcon, who was barely controlling his own anger, stomped off, leaving Fox, Falco, Meta Knight, Dedede, Marth and Olimar in the room with Mario. The sprinklers sprayed cold water all over the room, putting out the fires that Bowser had created.

Mario sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. A series of loud footsteps hit his ears moments later, and he turned to see his brother Luigi run inside, panic on his face. His eyes widened when he saw the smoke rising from the floor and the large hole in the wall.

"Mama mia...what happened in here?" he asked.

"Bowser happened in here," Fox groaned. "First he challenged Scarlet to a fight, and then he picked a fight with the Cap. Mario barely stopped it in time."

"Geez," Luigi muttered, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "I was hoping that this year things would go without a hitch. This tournament's opening preliminaries are turning out to be worse than Melee's."

"With the number of competitors this year, that's to be expected," Mario said. "This is no Melee, Luigi. This is an outright brawl."

"Hence the title of the tournament," Falco noted.

"Come on. We'd better get to the Viewing Theater. I want to see the match," Olimar said.

Everyone looked down at the small captain, who looked somewhat angry. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Falco asked.

"Because I want to see the look on Bowser's face when she proves him wrong. Nobody insults me like that and gets away with it," he growled.

Everyone looked at each other, and then Luigi shrugged. "I can't blame him for that," he said. "It'd be nice to see Bowser get his."

Mario sighed, but didn't say anything else. He just started to walk out of the room, which was a sign for everyone else to follow. Luigi couldn't help but notice how down his brother looked. He knew just how seriously Mario took his role as the leader of the Smashers, and the fact that these incidents were happening more frequently was more harrowing for him than he would ever admit. He hated not being able to stop situations from becoming problematic, to the point where people could have been hurt. Luigi had tried to help Mario as best as he could, but his brother's stubborn streak always won out. So Luigi was back to watching from the sidelines as his brother struggled to regain control around the Mansion, a struggle that was physically and mentally hurting him.

The fact that he was in close proximity of Bowser and many other challengers was not helping him in the slightest.

Luigi shook his head in sadness. _I just want to help you out as much as I can, big bro. __  
_

**END OF CHAPTER 3  
**

* * *

_**Yeah, things kind of end of a tense note there. Bowser in this story is pretty much a lot of trouble. Well, for the first part of the story, anyway. The second part introduces Ganondorf, who isn't as destructive as Bowser, but he is much more savvy and manipulative. Next chapter will deal with Scarlet and Bowser's fight, and (possibly) Mario's leadership issues, as they will crop up in the story again. **_

_**Vulaan Kulaas and I will be opening a Q&amp;A panel at the beginning of each chapters. We'll be answering any questions that you may have, so don't be afraid to ask! **_

_**A big thanks to all of those who have followed and favorited this story! Forgive me for taking so long...but as Dapper Dee VI said, it was worth the wait!**_

_**God bless, iheartgod175**_


	4. Chapter 4: There Will Be Blood

**A/N: **After over three months of inactivity, here is the fourth chapter of _Fiery Heart, Broken Soul_, people! It's going to be a lot longer than last time, and as the chapter title implies, there _will_ be blood involved. If you don't like that sort of thing, then don't read. This will also be my first attempt at writing a gory chapter, so I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Chapter 4: There Will Be Blood

"Do you think Scarlet will be fine out there?" Olimar asked.

"She can handle herself against a fire-breathing lizard," Dedede huffed. "I know my sister. She never lets people talk about her that way."

"Trust me, I get it. Nobody insults me and thinks they can walk off scot-free," Falco replied. "Bowser's going to be in for a major beatdown."

"I wouldn't bet my money on that yet, Falco," Fox replied. "Bowser likes to fight at full strength when he challenges people-newcomer or veteran. Most people he challenges walk away with a lot of broken bones."

"Believe me when I say I know," Luigi said. "I've only fought against Bowser once during the tournament, when he first arrived. I was locked up in the hospital for weeks."

"Try a few months, Luigi," Fox corrected.

"Right…"

"Well, if Bowser's going to fight at full strength, then Scarlet's going to give it her all as well," Dedede said. "She's a force to be reckoned with at full strength."

The assorted group made their way to the viewing theater, where they saw the rest of the Smashers watching Bowser and Scarlet make their way to the battlefield. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of clean up after they were finished with the battle.

As if he read his thoughts, Bowser said, _"Hey, everyone. Are you squeamish around blood?"_

_"I don't see how that has anything to do with the fight," _Scarlet snapped.

_"Oh, but it does. Because trust me, during this fight, you're going to see just how powerful I really am. And there _will _be blood. Lots and lots of it. Mostly yours," _Bowser replied.

Scarlet brandished her hammer. _"Yeah? We'll see about that," _she said.

There was a moment before the announcer called out, _"GO!" _

"Here we go," Falco muttered.

* * *

Like coils released from a spring, Bowser and Scarlet leapt at each other, fire forming in Scarlet's free hand and a burst streaming from Bowser's mouth. She leaped over him, her coat singeing due to the heat of the flames. Before she had time to counter, he grabbed her with both hands and drew her close. He sank his teeth into her shoulder, cracking a few bones and drawing a loud gasp of pain from Scarlet. After a few more bites, he jumped into the air, flipped over and bodyslammed her into the ground, cracking the stadium with the force. Scarlet flew towards the other side, her hammer flying out of her grasp and blood turning her blue jacket as red as her feathers.

Bowser laughed rudely as he came towards her, his claws outstretched for another swipe. Blood stained his muzzle and his fangs. Scarlet looked up to see that she was seeing doubles of the Koopa King, and she realized that she had to do something, or else he really would leave her worse for wear. Ignoring the pain in her arm for now, she unleashed her Flaming Vortex, her body erupting into a tornado of fire and spinning out of the way of Bowser's swipe. She appeared behind him, raising her hammer and preparing for an overhead blow to the head. The second Bowser turned around to face her, the face of her mallet slammed into him, throwing his head back a few inches. He barely saw the next two hits coming, and he was certain that he felt two teeth come loose.

He shook his head in order to focus, and unleashed a torrent of fire at her, sending the flames racing down the field and towards the edge of the stage. Scarlet used her hammer to block most of it, but the flames that raced over her frame set whatever was exposed on fire. Grimacing at the pain, she leaped away from the flames, frantically patting down the stray tongues that licked at her clothes.

Bowser thrust forwards, his right hand clenched into a punch. The force of the punch sent Scarlet skidding across the stage, but that didn't stop her from running up to the Koopa King and started to pummel him across his face. He swiped at her, knocking her down to the ground and prepared to do another swipe, but that was when Scarlet spun away from him, and leaped into the air. There was the hiss and click of metal parts forming.

Then there was the roar of an engine, and Bowser looked upwards to see Scarlet fly towards him, a large jet thruster leaking fire from the back of the hammer. With a war cry, she slammed the mallet into his stomach, sending him flying several feet back. That did nothing to deter Scarlet, who swung again and hit him in the face, sending him off of the stage. She landed on the ground, watching with a look of satisfaction as Bowser spiraled out of control towards the ground.

_How do you like me now, Bowser? _She thought to herself.

The smile disappeared when she saw Bowser right himself in midair, and jumped towards the stage. When that didn't help, he retreated into his shell, and spun towards the ledge, looking like a large, spike-covered fortress. With another spin of his shell, he was just close enough to reach the ledge, and leaped back onto the stage. Angry red-orange eyes looked into shocked grey ones.

"You thought you could get rid of me that easily, huh?" he snarled. "Well, I've got news for you, Scarface—I don't ever go down until I see my opponents turned into a mangled heap…which you're going to be shortly."

"Prove it, Lizard Boy," Scarlet taunted.

A lightning bolt snapped in Bowser's eyes, and he lurched forwards, claws outstretched. Scarlet had no time to move before Bowser's massive claw slashed across her waist and her stomach. The attack tore through her clothes and the skin underneath her feathers, and it caused every part of her body to become white hot with pain. She bit back a scream as she was thrown backwards, a small wave of blood flying from her wounds and splattering against the battlefield. She slammed onto the surface of the battlefield on her back, sending more pain into her body.

She had no time to move before Bowser was upon her again, slamming his foot onto her wounded stomach. As he was much larger than her, the impact of the stomp felt like she was being crushed by a two ton truck. She struggled to regain her breath as he ground his foot in further, causing a few ribs to break and sending more blood to the surface. As much as it hurt, though, she managed to keep herself from screaming.

"One other thing I should have mentioned to you," he said, his voice filled with cruel joy, "I really, _really_ don't like being called 'Lizard Boy'. You want to know why? It's a slur that the Toads use against my kind, which they killed off. They call us by that derogatory name because they think that we're stupid, insignificant brutes. I've had enough of people calling me that, and I'll gladly prove them wrong." His smile was monstrous. "So, go ahead. Call me 'Lizard Boy' again. I'll gladly break every single bone in your body."

Scarlet raised her head to look Bowser in the eyes, and saw the hatred glowing in them. His story almost made her feel sorry for him. Almost.

But she had no time to even answer, as he grabbed her roughly by her head and hurled her to the other side of the battlefield. The force of his throw tore off her bandana, and sent her crashing into the ground. Her head bounced twice against the hard stone ground, sending pain shooting up her beak and jaw. She could hear his lumbering footsteps coming closer, his rumbling laugh echoing through the battlefield.

The battered penguin staggered to her feet, but she didn't have time to move before Bowser's clawed hand wrapped around her throat, applying pressure to it. Gagging, she punched and kicked at him but his grip was like a vice, and he quickly used his other hand to slam it into her stomach repeatedly. She bit back a pained cry as she felt a few more ribs break, then she was slammed onto the bloodstained stage on her back where he pinned her with his foot. Grinning cruelly, he grinded his foot into her ribcage as she writhed on the floor, determined not to scream.

"I'm shocked you lasted this long Scarface...but I wonder how long that idiotic brother of yours can? I can't wait to make him scream! It's gonna be fun!"

With those words, he reared his foot back and kicked her sending the burned and bloody female skidding back a few feet. Scarlet hissed as she tried to get up but her body screamed with agony, and all she could do was try to catch her breath but even that was a struggle. Suddenly Bowser was almost on top of her, soon grabbing her by the throat again and he smiled.

"Let me see if you can scream, Princess," he mocked, before he grabbed her broken wrist and twisted it causing her to let out a strangled shriek of agony, causing the Koopa to laugh with sadistic glee as she weakly thrashed about.

"Pathetic," he snarled, and picked her up by her broken wrist, sending every part of her arm screaming with pain. He then hurled her towards the other side, smiling satisfactorily as she bounced off of the stone ground and lay there. "You barely made me get so much as a scratch."

Scarlet's only response was to cough weakly. Hot blood bubbled out of her throat and sprayed the stage she was standing on. She saw her reflection in the dark, crimson pool, as well as Bowser's as he pulled his claw back, preparing for another punch.

She had no time to even move before his claws hit her in the back, knocking the air out of her and sending her flying off of the stage and into the abyss below. She could feel her muscles lock up tightly as she rocketed at untold speeds towards a white void below.

And then, as if she were coming out of a whirlpool, she was sent spinning back upwards into the air, a trail of blue light streaking behind her. She was hardly aware that she was screaming until she felt her throat lock up. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was Bowser's rumbling laugh.

* * *

"Holy _crap_," Falco breathed.

"I wouldn't exactly put it that way," Marth said, his face two shades paler, "but I do share the exact sentiment."

"Is there another way to describe that?!" Luigi asked incredulously. "The guy broke several of Scarlet's bones! You could hear them crunch from a mile away!"

Everyone stared at the green clad plumber, who seemed to huddle himself into his seat. His blue eyes were bright with worry. "Bowser only fights like that when he wants to show that he means business. Mario fought him once when he was like that. It…it was bad. Really bad. I had to save his life at that point," he said. "If you don't call off the fight, she'll probably bleed to death from her injuries."

"I'm going to bury Bowser halfway into the ground when I get my hands on him," Dedede growled. His blue eyes were nearly black with rage. "Nobody beats my little sister to an inch of her life!"

"Let's hope Scarlet can beat him in the second round," Falco replied.

"A second round? After what he did to her?" Dedede asked, aghast. "I'll be surprised if she's even standing when she comes back!"

"He has a point," Marth added, earning him a look of surprise from Falco. "He broke several bones, as Luigi pointed out, and wounded her to the point where she was reduced to bleeding out all over the stage. If she tries to fight again, the consequences could be cata-"

"Hey, look over there!" Ness called out. "I-It's that girl!"

Everyone' eyes were glued to the screen the moment they saw Scarlet appear again in the middle of the stage, some even gasping or screaming in shock. The dark-feathered penguin's body was lined with burns and cuts from Bowser's attacks. She also had nasty gashes in her sides due to the twisted metal having cut into her skin, and several small rivers of blood poured down her body, painting her tanned shirt as red as her feathers. Glass and metal pieces of the stage covered her coat, and some were sticking out of her like pins.

The fire in her eyes, however, could not be quenched. She leveled her bloodstained hammer at the King of the Koopas, who looked as surprised as everyone else.

_"This isn't over, Lizard Boy," _she snarled.

The crowd was hushed, watching with bated breath as Bowser got into a fighting stance, the leering smirk gone from his face, replaced with a menacing scowl.

There were no taunts from either of them. Somebody was going to need of extensive medical care when this fight was finished; that much was clear to the audience. There was no other possible outcome.

The announcer declared, _"Round Two! BEGIN!" _

Scarlet leapt towards Bowser like a coiled spring turned loose, and the second round was on.

* * *

Swinging her hammer in a wide arc, Scarlet caught Bowser in a violent blow to the upper head, followed by another blow to the stomach. He stumbled backwards, but managed to right himself before he toppled backwards. Growling, he lashed out with a vicious right hook, sending Scarlet flying upwards into the air.

He ran after her, grabbing her just as she slammed onto the ground. Picking her up roughly by her shoulders, he slammed his head into hers, an action that created a nasty gash on the other side of her head. She jumped away from him, grimacing in pain, and swiped twice with her hammer, catching him in the knees. Like a large oak tree, he tumbled over and fell.

"I'm not through with you yet," she growled. With a mighty swing, she brought the hammer down on Bowser's left kneecap, almost smirking when she heard the loud _crunch_ of his bones breaking. The king roared in pain, and across the stage, horrified onlookers screamed.

"One other thing I should have mentioned to you," she said, using Bowser's exact words, "I really, really don't like it when people threaten my brother. If you threaten him, you're going to have to go through me first."

With fire forming in her free hand, she punched him in the face, sending him flying across the stage. She warped to the other side in a tornado of fire, bringing herself to a stop right behind Bowser. The dazed king had no time to move before she brought her hammer back down on his face, almost burying him into the stage.

Still not satisfied, she grabbed him roughly by his throat, watching as he clawed at her arms, trying to rip it off. Gripping his neck tighter, she brought her fist up and punched him in the face several times, sending his head whipping back and forth with the force. Finally, she threw him back down to the ground, slammed her foot onto his shoulder, and rapidly spun her hammer in Bowser's stomach. The impact sent pain shooting through his body, making him scream in agony. After a few more seconds, Scarlet roughly kicked him to the other side of the stage. He stumbled back to a fighting stance on his busted knee, sending pain coursing up his left leg.

He turned around to face Scarlet, only to see that she was gone. He looked everywhere for her, his face twisted into a menacing snarl. The roar of jets filled his ears moments later, and he turned around to see Scarlet flying towards him, her hammer in jet mode. With a war cry, Scarlet swung downwards, aiming at Bowser's head.

Bowser slid backwards, barely missing the hammer by inches. A hollow boom filled the air as Scarlet came in contact with the ground, sending chunks of the stadium flying into the air. Bowser took a deep breath, feeling the acrid heat of flames start to build up in his gut. When Scarlet appeared from the smoke cloud moments later, he unleashed a massive torrent of fire, sending it racing at full speed towards Scarlet. Scarlet had no time to even move and the flames raced over her body, burning any exposed feathers as well as her coat. She dove to the other side of the stage, suppressing a groan of pain as she attempted to put out the fire.

Bowser was upon her again, grabbing her by the throat and hurling her to the other side of the stage. She streaked through the air like a meteorite, hitting the ground with a slap. Growling, Bowser made his way over to her again, and landed a heavy punch on her face. Unsatisfied, the Koopa King landed punch after punch on her, sending her head jerking back and forth with every blow. Using his good leg, he performed a rough, vicious kick that sent her spinning towards the edge of the stage.

_That should teach her not to mess with me, _he thought to himself.

His thoughts were jostled when he heard Scarlet let out a loud war cry, and he turned to see her vault back onto the stage. Hefting her hammer high over her shoulder, she raced towards him, her expression dangerous. Fire formed in her free hand, and she prepared to swing a punch at him.

Smirking, he leaned back, dodging her swing, and then roughly grabbed her upper arms. Bringing her towards him, he laughed as her expression changed to one of horrified surprise.

"Nice try, Princess," he snarled, before opening his massive maw and diving for her face.

Scarlet twisted at the last minute, trying to avoid his sharp teeth, which were aimed at her beak. But by the time she realized just where he was heading, it was too late to even do anything. His left molar sunk into her left eye like a knife, and sent pain exploding through her face. The other sunk into the bridge of her nose. She screamed in agony, and Bowser drew back, tearing off a section of her skin and feathers. She fell to her knees, clutching her left eye, which had blood streaming out of it. Horrified shouts came from the audience, and over the noise, someone could be heard retching.

Bowser licked the blood off of his maw and teeth with a satisfied smirk. "That's gonna set you back by about a week," he commented, before coming towards her and slamming his feet into her stomach, sending her flying across the stage. "I should've known you were all bark and no bite. I'll have fun challenging your brother."

Scarlet staggered uneasily to her feet, ripping off her bandana and tying it across her bleeding left eye. Shakily, she picked up her bloodstained hammer and got back into a fighting stance. Her teeth were bared in a snarl.

"Oh, what are you going to do now? Growl at me?" Bowser laughed. "Face it, you've already lost."

"No. Not yet," she snarled. She then tossed away her hammer, balling her hands into fists. "There's still plenty of time for me to bash your head in."

"Yeah, right. As if you can," he scoffed. "You'll be roadkill by the time I'm done with you."

"You should speak for yourself, Bowser! You'll need surgery by the time I'm done with you!" With that, she lunged, fire forming on both of her hands. She landed a brutal uppercut on his face, earning cheers from the crowd. "I warned you to never threaten my brother, ever again!"

Sitting on top of him, she landed blow after brutal blow on his face, knocking his face back and forth. She aimed at his eye, just like he had done to her moments before, and swung, setting one half of his face on fire. Bowser roared in agony, and swiped her in the face with his free claw, knocking her off. She dove and rolled upon landing, and jumped back onto her feet, watching as Bowser slowly got up from his position on the floor. Part of his face was now charred from Scarlet's fire attack. He roared angrily, the volume of his voice shaking the stage.

Undeterred, Scarlet charged right as Bowser unleashed a torrent of flames at her. She dove to the side as the flames raced down the stage, and then rushed forwards to punch him in the face again. Bowser was faster this time, however, and reached out with his right hand, grabbing her roughly by her face. His claw sunk into her punctured eye, which made Scarlet cry out in agony. With an evil smirk, Bowser sent her flying off of the stage, watching as a thin trail of blood streaked from her eye.

Scarlet struggled to regain her bearings as she hurtled towards the abyss below. Thinking fast, she covered her whole body in fire, spinning upwards in a vertical tornado. Emerging from the vortex, she could see the edge of the stage only a few feet from her grasp, and she outstretched her hand as she reached the edge. _I've gotta grab onto it!_

Her fingers found purchase on the slick, cracked edge just as the vortex disappeared. The cracked stones sent pain screaming into her fingers, but Scarlet did her best to ignore it as she pulled herself back onto the stage. There was a loud cry of surprise coming from the audience.

No sooner had she lifted herself onto the stage did Bowser come charging at her. His footsteps shook the stage as he ran, and Scarlet barely had time to defend herself before he retreated into his shell, whirling across the stage towards her like a large fortress of spikes. She attempted to shield herself, but several of his spines cut into her like knives, sending more blood splattering on the floor. The impact of the attack sent her tumbling off of the stage, right before she could even attempt to recover. Like the first time, she rocketed towards the sky as a streak of blue light, screaming as she disappeared.

There was a long moment of silence as the audience stared at the scene before them. Then, Master Hand's voice, somber and holding back some measure of anger, called out the words to end the match.

_"Game!"_

* * *

The entire Viewing Theater was silent, save for the reverberating echo of Bowser's evil laughter. Everyone's eyes were as large as dinner plates, as though they didn't quite believe what they were seeing. Most of the Smashers were horrified, while others, like Ganondorf, sat there with a small smirk on his face.

Zelda and Link stared at the screen, their eyes wide and jaws hung slack. Olimar was shaking in his chair with fear, while Captain Falcon looked somewhat disgusted. Falco sat in his chair with his arms folded, but his wide eyes and slack beak failed to convey his posture. Peach had her mouth covered with both hands, her expression horrified. Mario was going red with anger, while Luigi was going as green as his hat.

All of them had watched Bowser make punching bags out of many a newcomer. But this…this wasn't one of his normal fights. He had beat her down, to the point where she didn't even look like herself anymore. Everyone knew that he only did this to people who he took a particular dislike to.

And judging from the extent of her injuries, he really didn't like her. At all.

The dead silence was broken when King Dedede shot up from his chair and snatched his hammer, which was sitting next to him. He gripped it so tight one could see his knuckles through his gloves. He turned towards Mario, who had managed to finally turn away from the screen.

"Take me to see my sister, _now_," Dedede ground out.

Luigi flinched, but Mario put out a hand to calm him down. His expression was resigned, as though he was used to doing this.

"Sure," he said simply. "Peach?"

Peach looked down at the plumber. "Y-Yes, Mario?"

"Can you please send for my cousin to check out both Scarlet and Bowser? They both need the treatment," he said.

Peach nodded wordlessly. Taking her hand, Mario motioned to Dedede and Meta Knight, and soon, they stood up and walked out of the Viewing Theater. Not a single sound followed them as they left the room.

* * *

Bowser limped out of the Battlefield, growling at the bloody mess that was his kneecap. Even though he had managed to toss Scarlet around like a sack, she still had some punch, he had to admit that. His stomach, face and legs ached unimaginably due to her physical attacks. Knowing Mario's cousin, he'd probably order him on bedrest for a couple of weeks.

Not like he was going to be following the doctor's orders, anyway.

He looked over to see Scarlet limp over to a chair on the other side, her breath coming out in ragged gasps as she sat in it. Her whole body was covered in blood, and her clothes were barely hanging onto her body. Her skin and feathers had been scraped raw, allowing him to see the amount of damage he'd put on her body. Some of her ribs were bent at odd angles, and he could have sworn he saw a few bones. She glared at him with her one good eye, which was red from some of the collisions with the stage.

Bowser smirked. "Looks like you couldn't put up such a good fight after all, Princess," he taunted. "But don't feel too bad—it happens to everyone."

Scarlet growled out something under her breath, probably a curse that she wouldn't be caught dead uttering to her brother. Bowser scoffed.

The doors to the stage room burst open, almost flying right off of their hinges. Dedede strode in the room, looking ready to smash someone's head open. He turned towards Scarlet, who looked up at him with a unreadable expression, and then walked to Bowser, his face set into a menacing scowl.

"I'm gonna kill you for what you've done to her!" he snarled, and prepared to charge, only for Meta Knight and Mario to grab him by his shoulders and attempt to drag him away. The king threw off both of them, and swung his hammer, catching Bowser in a powerful swing that sent him crashing into the wall. Mortar and other debris flew everywhere. "Did you really think you'd just walk away after doing what you just did?!"

"STOP!" Mario screamed, managing to pull Dedede away. He glared at Bowser and then at Dedede. "Do you want to be kicked out of the tournament for good?!"

"As long as I don't have to have my sister around this freak, I don't care what you do!" Dedede said. He brandished his hammer at Bowser, who pulled himself from the wall. "You're lucky that Mario was here to stop me, or else you would've been dead."

Bowser growled, but one look at Mario's face made him reconsider what he was going to do. Dedede turned towards his sister, who was slumped against the wall.

"Are you alright, Scarlet?" he asked. "You look awful."

Scarlet laughed weakly. "I've been through worse, big bro," she said. "It's nothing. I'll be myself in a few weeks."

"Nothing?" Mario asked, incredulous. "You're bleeding out everyone on the floor, you've got an eye injury and several broken bones, and you call that _nothing_?"

Scarlet opened her mouth to say something, but that was when the doors opened again. A shorter, stockier Mario appeared, wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope. Peach trailed behind him, her arms filled with bandages.

"I came as soon as Peach told me," he said.

"Thanks, cousin," Mario replied, looking relieved. "As you can see, Scarlet needs immediate medical attention. She's bleeding all over the place."

"I notice you didn't bother to mention me, Mario," Bowser snarled.

"I was getting to that," Mario snapped, "but due to your savage beating, she needs it more than you do."

"Don't worry, Scarlet," Dr. Mario said, extending his hand to her. "I'll take good care of you."

At those words, Scarlet's head snapped upwards. For the first time after the fight, she looked alert. Her one good eye narrowed into a frown as she looked at him.

"I don't think so," she said, her voice no more than a growl. "I don't need anybody taking care of me, especially freaks like you."

Dr. Mario was taken aback by this. "A freak?"

"Scarlet," Mario started, "my cousin here isn't a-"

"How do you know? I bet you that he isn't even a real doctor! He looks just like you with a lab coat and a stethoscope!"

Bowser stifled what Mario assumed to be a laugh.

"Scarlet, you don't have to be afraid of Dr. Mario," Peach said. "He's a good person!"

"Yeah, good at sticking his nose into other people's business," Bowser rumbled.

"Shut up, Bowser!" Mario snapped.

"You know what? It's okay, Mario," Scarlet said, staggering to her feet. "I don't think you need to worry about me."

Peach looked at Scarlet, her blue eyes full of sadness. "Scarlet, we only want to help you-"

"First of all, I can take care of myself," Scarlet interrupted, her voice harsh. "Second, I don't need a pity party to take care of me."

"A pity party?"

"Don't act so surprised. The only reason you're offering me all this free treatment is because you feel sorry for me," Scarlet continued. "Well, guess what? I've gone several years with people feeling sorry for me, and to be honest, I'm sick of all the coddling. I'm not a little kid. I can take care of myself. And if anybody's going to take care of my injuries, it certainly isn't going to be any of you." She then glared at Dr. Mario. "Especially not you."

For a long time, the whole room was silent. Then Dedede walked over to his sister and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, Mario. I'll take care of her," he replied.

"But, with those injuries-" Dr. Mario started.

"I'll be fine," Scarlet interrupted. The tone in her voice was tired as if she had dealt with this sort of thing before. "Big bro will get me cleaned up and all that good stuff."

"Yeah. Um, can one of you guide us to our rooms?" Dedede said.

"I'll go," Peach offered. "I know that there are some empty rooms for some of the newcomers." She turned to Dedede and Scarlet, who both looked anxious to leave. "Follow me."

Dedede led Scarlet out of the room as he followed Peach out. The doors closed, and Mario turned to his cousin.

"I think you can take care of Bowser now," Mario replied. "I'll go and check on the rest of the competitors."

"About time," Bowser groaned, sitting on the floor. The floor shook as he settled down on the floor. "I don't see why you had to go and get your hat in a twist over a scarred freak, Mario."

Mario groaned. "Unlike you, I care about what happens to the newcomers, Bowser," he said, "especially when a veteran beats them to within an inch of their lives."

"She's just lucky to still be standing," Bowser snarled. "But if she's gonna make it through this tournament alive, she's gonna get a lot worse than what I gave her."

"Let's hope things don't come to that," Dr. Mario replied as he pulled out the gauze from his medical kit.

* * *

"And this is your room, Scarlet. I hope you don't mind the red; Master Hand always designs these rooms based on the competitors' homeworlds," Peach explained.

Scarlet looked at the room, her eyes widening slightly. In the corner of the room was a king-sized bed lined with a blue comforter, white linen sheets and red pillows. The paint was a rich red with white lining, and there was a gold lampstand with Dedede's crest at the base.

"Okay, this is actually pretty nice," she said. "It actually kind of looks like home."

"Well, for the next few months, it will be. But thankfully, you'll be far away from some of the more...aggressive competitors," Peach said, choosing her words carefully. "If you have any problems whatsoever, just let me know, okay?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I can handle these problems myself," Scarlet answered.

"A-Alright then," Peach replied. "I'll leave you two to get settled. Dinner's in the Great Hall at seven, and after that, Master Hand will announce the matches for the preliminary tournament." With a small bow, Peach then turned and went down the hall, heading for the stairway.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Scarlet turned to Dedede. "I thought she'd never leave," she replied. "I mean, she seems nice enough, but her constant worrying is kind of making me uncomfortable."

Dedede sighed, but didn't say anything. He simply ushered her into her room. "Come on, Spitfire. Let's get you cleaned up. We can't be late for dinner."

**END OF CHAPTER 4  
**

* * *

_**Even though this wasn't as long as I thought it would be, it's still kind of lengthy, with more action and a little more drama. Chapter 5 shouldn't take as long, but with me, you can never tell. :P**_

_**So yeah, the fight between Bowser and Scarlet was...kinda intense, and bloody, too. Chapter 5 will deal with how the other Smashers feel about this fight, and we'll probably get a glimpse of Scarlet's past, too. **_

_**I'll be updating the TV Tropes page probably tomorrow if I get the chance. It's been a while since I've done anything on any of my TV Tropes pages, so you'll be seeing some updates soon!**_

_**Reviews are great!**_

_**God bless, iheartgod175**_


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